For the Men & Boys!

Some of these cards go back a while now! To start with, I was asked to make two golfing cards for a chap who's 60, as it turns out there were for the same man! Luckily I figured this out before I went ahead a copied the first card I made!I've been on ebay and invested in some Quickutz dies, a Golf Tee & Ball and a Golf Club set and the Grass die. I can see myself getting quite a lot of use out of these so thought they would be a good purchase! I can't remember where the paper for this card came from, but I'm pretty sure it was a download. The pringle design works great with golf cards! I've done quite a bit of paper pricking on this card too! I think its my latest "thing"And here is my second attempt! Decided to go with the large numbers theme on this card and embellish it with the golfing die cuts. I've used a tartan looking paper, which I think came from the Basic Grey Archaic set, very fitting as the chap is also Scottish! I've mounted the numbers onto foam pads so they stand out a bit and have tied the two together using some eyelets and elastic stringy stuff!Within the space of 3 days I was asked by two different people to make a card for a keen cyclist! This time though they were actually for different people so I was able to replicate the card! I really didnt have a clue what to do, so I took a look through my trusty old stash of magazines when I came across a booklet of mens cards, I think it was from Papercraft Inspirations last year. This is my interpretation of the card they featured which was a paper pieced mountain bike. I beleive I've seen a version of this card on Stacey's blog too! It was a bit challenging getting all the pieces to fit together!
This one is for a Watford Football Club fan! I'm never really sure what to do when it comes to football cards. I've done one a bit like this in the past, and after Googling some images, this is what I came up with. The background card is part of the Black Magic set I bought recently, it has a yellow core. I've sanded it down so it looks distressed. I didnt realise that it would make so much mess though!

And this final one was for my friends Dad for Fathers Day! The suggestion was for Automotive! Something Classic! So I thought, blokey, James Bond, Aston Martin! The image has a slight hint of green in one of the back windows, and this is what inspired the colours of the card. I really like this teal/grey combination.

A Few for the Kids!

Hi everybody, I'm sorry its been so long again since I updated my blog...I just dont seem very with it at the moment so am taking the opportunity to blog today and hopefully catch up while I'm feeling in the mood! I've had quite a lot of requests for cards just lately and really haven't had a lot of time to just have a play. I'm all up to date now though so I'm hoping to get playing with some new ideas and textures soon.
This first card is my favourite of the childrens cards! She's a little cutie! I downloaded the Prima Ballerina set from Cuddly Buddly a very long time ago and this is the first time I've ever used her, I'm ashamed to say! I really like her though. The papers are also cuddly buddly. I've kept the card reasonably simple and have layered the ballernia's dress to add a bit more depth.
My second favourite is this Edwin card. The paper is an old scrap I had in the draw. Not sure where it came from but its what started me off on this card! I've fastened some of the stars on with small eyelets and foam pads. Again, I printed off the sentiment using PSP and have cut it cut using my nestabilities.

Here is a Ben 10 Card, I was asked to make....my litte boy's not quite into Ben 10 yet so I didnt have many ideas. I did a Google image search and came up with this picture, which I thought would look good if I layered the arm giving it a bit of depth. I created the sentiment in PSP and printed it directly onto the co-ordinating cardstock. This card was for the same lady as the Ben 10 Card. She liked the layout of the first one so I said I'd have another go with this card. The Thomas Image was Googled and I've layered the face and bumpers using foam pads. And finally, this card was set as a bit of a challenge! I was asked to make it for a special needs, blind teenager. The challenge was to make a nice touchy feely card with textures! I hope I've acheived that here! I started off by cutting out the numbers and embossing them with the swiss dots folder. They are then mounted on contrasting pink card and have been stuck down with foam pads. My thought was that she might be able to feel the shape of the numbers and also the texture of dots. I've added a few embossed flowers also using foam pads and some adhesive gem stones. To the bottom I've added another strip of embossed swiss dots card with an added strip of lace. I have recently inherrited a huge basket full of lace and trims, which I'm hoping to use a lot more on my cards from now on! I'm pleased with the result of my first go with them! And to finish I've layered up 3 silk/paper flowers.

Thanks for stopping by and I promise I will update again soon! I do have some more cards to show you, so as Arnie would say "I'll Be Back!"

A few of my favourites...

Good evening everybody! What beautiful weather we've had here in Northampton over the past couple of days! lets hope it continues as I'm going away for a few days next week! Here are a few pictures of some of the gifts I made for my stall at the fayre a couple of weeks ago! I wanted to fill out the stall with other bits and pieces instead of just cards.I really love this colour combination. I stumbled across it by accident. Its kind of mint choclatey! First up is a matching notepad and pen set. These are so easy to make, and make such a lovely gift.And to co-ordinate (use up the papers) I've made this little handbag card too. I've made a few more stationery boxes, this time however, I have re-sized and made my own template for the cards & envelopes, so absolutely everything here is hand crafted! The A6 cards and envelopes are just ever so slightly too big as the box is designed for the US card measurements. These gorgeous papers are Pink Petticoat. I downloaded them a long time ago and I really love them. The colours are easily changed to suit.
And a co-ordinating Notepad & Pen Gift set!
For the craft stall I made up about 10 candles, each displayed in an organza gift bag with a matching card. These seem to go down really well. They do make such a nice gift. I'd be thrilled if somebody gave one to me! not that thats ever likely though.

And yet another co-ordinating handbag. I love these papers. They are from the Basic Grey Sugared Collection.

Oh My Word...where has the last month and a half gone?

I'm so sorry for being such a bad blogger...I just dont know where the last month and a half has gone. It all started at the begining of May. I went to Cornwall for a week on holiday and I'm still not 100% back into my normal routine yet. After we came back from our holiday I had a couple of weeks to prepare for my stall at a local country fair. I've worked my socks off trying to get things ready in time! The show itself wasnt actually all that busy, the weather was great though and we have a really nice weekend away! It was nice to hear such lovely comments from people about my cards and gifts. Here is a piccy of my stall!

I've been asked to make quite a few cards recently and the first one I'm showing you is probably my favourite. I was browsing the docrafts gallery looking for inspiration for a Wedding card and I came across a card by Barbi which really inspired me. So I had a go at my own version and this is what I came up with. The colour scheme for the wedding is light toffee and cream so I thought I'd use these colours for the card. The wording is printed onto a cream pearlescent card, and I have personalised it with the bride and groom's name and date of the wedding.I really love this little girls first birthday card. I think it turned out really well! I've made a blue version of this card before, but this is my first go using the pink colour combination. The papers, card and ribbon are Doodlebug! who else?I was asked to make a thinking of you card for a lady recently and I decided to use a layout that i've used before using the cuttlebug embossing folders. This time though I thought I'd add a little extra to it by layering a stamped Tilda with Boquet in the bottom right corner.

And my final favourite for now! is this BBQ card. I have a stamp set from Studio G who I think are now being sold as Dovecraft stamps. They are the 99p sets. This is from "The Great Outdoors" set. I was inspired to make this card by lots of other cards on the Splitcoast Stampers Gallery. An invaluble source of inspiration!

I think that will do for today. I do still have lots more to show you, but I'll leave some for another time! Thanks for stopping by.

Hey Cupcake!

A quick flick through my Stampin Up catalogue inspired me to make these cards. The papers and card are all from a DCWV baby stack. To make the cupcakes Ive cut out the bottom part and embossed with my cuttlebug folder. I've inked the edges of the topping of the cupcake and have also drawn around each circle with my glue pen and then added some glamour dust, before mounting it on foam pads. I've then topped it off with a pink button. And a slight variation on the first one! I've used my scalloped edge scissors to layer the curved edge.

Boys, Boys, Boys!

I've had a few of my friends little boys to make cards for over the past couple of weeks. I wanted to have another go at my favourite little paper pieced dinosaur that I made a few months back, and here he is. This time I've used the basic grey Archaic paper set, which is what origianlly inspired me to make my own dinosuar. The little bones are all hand drawn and cut out. In all I made 4 dinosaurs which were really time consuming but quite theraputic.I had this Sugar Nellie Pirate coloured and sitting in my stamped images box waiting to be used! I had a vision of this card before I made it, and Its absolutely nothing like it was going to be! I've actually kept it a lot simpler than it was going to be. Ive distressed the edges of the map and highlighted some of the lines so they stand out a bit more. I was having a flick through some of my old magazines looking for inspiration when I came across a page of Jo Kill's paper peiced toppers, one of which was a cute little builder. I had a go and he was really easy to make. I just cut out a few circles using a punch, did a little bit of cutting and a lot of edge inking! I've also gone with Jo's style of doodled edges which I think goes well with this image. I really like making my own paper peiced toppers for cards. Its very satisfyingAnd a slightly larger version. The diy letters are little wooden stickers that I got from a pound shop ages ago. I knew they would be usefull for something one day! The wood effect squre is actually some old laminate effect vinyl which we had left over from when we had to make a repair in our kitchen. Its actually been really usefull and I've used it on a few cards in the past.

Baby Baby!

Hi everybody! Hope you have all had a lovely week! We've had some lovely weather here and I've found myself relaxing in the summer house a few times this week! when I really should have been doing other things, but it was too nice.

Two of my friends have had babies in the last 3 weeks, a little girl and a boy and I wanted to make each of them a nice gift rather than buying something. I've made my little new baby keepsake that I've made a few times now. I made a 3 page concertina card which slides into a
wallet/envelope made from a heavy weight vellum. So here is the pink one! Actually its the first pink one I've ever made, all the others have been for boys, so it made a nice change.

I've also made a matching personalised card too using the cute Penny Black stamp. I really love this little hedgie, he's so cute!

I have lots of cards to blog at the moment, I seem to be running a bit behind lately so this may be the first of many posts.

Back Soon!